Fantastic Five UDFA's...thanks to that coaching staff

It looks like all five came here based on a coaches recommendation or relationship...that coaching staff was rock solid. Let's hope this new one has the same insight/ability.

The Fantastic Five

A bad team seemingly on track to going nowhere, the Chargers took a chance on five free agents in 2003, and those players have made all the difference in the club's stunning rise
By Kevin Acee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 6, 2007

Payton gave LT his first taste of Chicago

To a team coming off an 8-8 season and about to go 4-12, five players who went unclaimed in the 2003 draft were signed with little expectation they would yield some crucial pieces of a Chargers team now poised for a Super Bowl run.
Four years later, that group includes perhaps the NFL's best tight end, maybe its best left guard and also its best special teams player, plus a super-sub defensive lineman and a linebacker about to assume a starting job.

Their being in San Diego is a convergence of diligence, timing and luck.

Among the five is tight end Antonio Gates, whom the Chargers signed for $7,000 and figured he would need a season on the practice squad – since he hadn't played football in college.

“At minicamp, a couple hours of him running around the field, we said, 'That takes care of the practice squad,'” General Manager A.J. Smith recalled. “The athleticism, agility – this was not one who was going to be on the practice squad.”

Smith's smile is as wide as a Chargers helmet bolt as he remembers their discovery.

Gates smiles too. But his grin reflects a different memory. He had no idea he was so impressive.

“No way,” Gates said. “Now that I look back on it, I should have figured it out, because they stayed on my (rear end) so hard. They don't do that for people that are about to leave. I watch now. The ones they are like, 'Get your (rear end) ... ” That's how they were with me. Now that I look back, I think, 'Golly, how did I not see?'”

But he didn't.

“I went all the way to the end,” Gates said.

He and linebacker Stephen Cooper became roommates after both of their previous roommates were cut.

“I remember like it was yesterday,” Gates said. “It was me, Coop and Jordan Kramer, a fast linebacker.”

Kramer had been the second-fastest linebacker coming out of college that year, and Gates and Cooper figured he was a lock.

On cut day, when players get calls to come to the coach's office and bring their playbook, Gates and Cooper sat in their room.

Neither did Jacques Cesaire, Kris Dielman or Kassim Osgood, who round out what is surely one of the most impressive classes of undrafted free agents ever signed.
Gates is a three-time All-Pro. Dielman could have gone to the Pro Bowl last year, his first full season as a starter at guard. Osgood went as the AFC special teamer. Cesaire has started 27 games over the past three seasons and would still start on many teams that didn't have Igor Olshansky or Luis Castillo at defensive end. Cooper is taking over for Randall Godfrey at inside linebacker this season after splitting time with him the past two seasons.

Four came to San Diego with the questionable history shared by most free agents – small college and/or bad workout for scouts – and Gates was a college basketball star.

All came here because they connected with an assistant coach. Cooper and former linebackers coach Greg Manusky shared a small-school background. Cesaire believed line coach Wayne Nunnely when he told him he wouldn't be just another guy. Former tight ends coach Tim Brewster sold Gates with his honesty – telling him he might be on the practice squad for a year. Osgood wanted to play for receivers coach James Lofton (and stay in San Diego after playing a season at San Diego State). Dielman had played for former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron in college.

For the first time in Smith's four seasons as general manager, no undrafted free agents made the Chargers roster this year. But this is a team that returned 46 players from 2006.

Some of the '03 Five might have chosen to try their fortune somewhere else had they come out of college this year.

“With the team being so good, you never know what can happen,” Cooper said. “You might not have the opportunity to play for them now.”

The Chargers' current eight-man practice squad is made up entirely of undrafted free agents. That is where Dielman spent the first five weeks in 2003.

Dielman was a defensive lineman until then-coach Marty Schottenheimer stopped him on his way to an offensive meeting the first day of preparation for that year's season opener and told him he was henceforth a guard.

“I'm just thankful they were patient with me and coached me well enough and gave me time to learn,” Dielman said.

Never is Smith so modest as when he speaks of free agents.

As he goes over every name, he credits scouts and the players and says each one of them involved a measure of luck.

“Gatesy fell out of the sky,” he said.

But, also, the Chargers invest more time investigating and wooing free agents and more money on their bonuses than most teams. Still, it is a pittance for the players. While even seventh-round picks in 2003 got an average of $35,000 as a signing bonus, Cesaire got $3,500 to sign. Teammates used to joke that Dean Spanos paid him the bonus with change from his ashtray. Cooper signed for $8,000. Osgood got $12,000. Dielman got $7,500.

All five of the free agents have since signed long-term deals, including big-money pacts for Dielman, Gates and Cooper. Such a financial windfall is extraordinary for a former undrafted free agent.

“They usually don't become megabuck players,” Smith said. “They stay with you at acceptable contracts. They loosen up money to give to someone else.”

And while Smith continually refers to luck, he also says the Chargers look for a certain type of player in a free agent – someone who has not realized his potential, who is hard-nosed and built right.

It pays off then when Dielman realizes his potential or Osgood becomes a special teams stalwart out of necessity.

“Did we think he was going to be a Pro Bowl special teams guy? We didn't,” Smith said of Osgood. “I thought he was a wide receiver. He had a high motor. I should have known. We just look for guys like that – talented, competitive, tough football players. We've done a pretty good job at it.”

FOUR MORE IMPORTANT PIECES
How the five members of the Undrafted Class of '03 became Chargers and have become crucial elements to the team.

KRIS DIELMAN, G

A defensive tackle out of Indiana, he was signed in part because then-offensive coordinator Cam Cameron had been his coach at Indiana. He was moved to guard after the preseason and spent just five weeks on the practice squad. He brings a defensive line mentality to the offensive line and has started 29 of the past 30 games at left guard. Four years after signing for $7,500, he agreed to a six-year, $39 million contract this past offseason.

He set records at SDSU but did not impress at the combine. He wanted to stay in San Diego, and he liked the idea of learning from Hall of Famer James Lofton, the receivers coach. He figured out quickly it would only help him stick if he played well on special teams. This past season, he was named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad as a special teamer. His $12,000 bonus was relatively hefty, and in 2006 he signed a four-year, $3.45 million contract.

He was a hot commodity as a free agent out of Maine. He liked the fact that then-linebackers coach Greg Manusky had also come out of a small school and told him he had a chance. The Chargers saw potential in his hard-hitting style over a few preseasons. He thrived on special teams, then split time with Randall Godfrey and this year will succeed him at ILB. He signed for $8,000. Before last season, he signed a five-year, $14.75 million contract.

Cesaire liked what defensive line coach Wayne Nunnely told him. His big break was a hamstring injury to Marcellus Wiley in the 2003 training camp. Cesaire played a lot and was impressive. The S. Connecticut State alum has turned into a super-sub. He can play all three defensive line positions and has started 27 games over the past three seasons. He was signed to a five-year, $5.6 million contract in 2006.

– KEVIN ACEE

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ANTONIO GATES, TE:
An honorable mention All-America basketball player at Kent State, his workout for scouts was not all that impressive after he had injured his ankle at a camp for prospective NBA players. But Tim Brewster, then the Chargers tight ends coach, had seen him in a private workout. Gates liked Brewster's honesty and style. He signed for $7,000. In his second season, he was an All-Pro and set an NFL record for tight ends with 13 touchdowns. Gates signed a six-year, $22.54 million deal in 2005.

I don't think ANYONE with HALF A BRAIN questions AJ's ability to find gems and jewels in both the draft and in the UDFA ranks. If a GM could find people to fill his depth chart and find backups through UDFA they've accomplished something good.

AJ found three starters (four if you add Eric Parker) and numerous backups through what is considered throw away players. He and Buddy Nix are absolutely incredible

This story seems to give more of the credit to the coaches vs. AJ scouting these guys and bringing them in.

AJ does a lot of things right, but in this case I think it was the coaches finding the players and suggesting they be brought in as UDFA to be given a shot. No doubt Dielman is here because of Cam and then Marty moving him to OL. Gates is here because of Brewster, etc.

This story seems to give more of the credit to the coaches vs. AJ scouting these guys and bringing them in.

AJ does a lot of things right, but in this case I think it was the coaches finding the players and suggesting they be brought in as UDFA to be given a shot. No doubt Dielman is here because of Cam and then Marty moving him to OL. Gates is here because of Brewster, etc.

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A great team is put together by an organization, and that is run by a GM that picks his associates. Can you imagine this happening in Oakland, or with Matt Millen or with Tom Coughlin? AJ not only drafts good players, he hires good coaches and other team functionaries, and then he listens to what they have to say. His was the final say in picking these guys up, coaches are the ones who decided to keep them, and AJ is the one whose signed them to long term contracts. The best managers are those who pick good people to work with and who have the good sense to trust them and that is AJ. At the same time, nobody doubts for a second who the boss is.

Kinda interesting the UDFA where the coaching staff attracted the players and brought in the guys was better than our actual draft that year where AJ could pick and chose whoever he wanted. The coaches took the left overs that no one wanted through 7 rounds and made more out of it. That is magical.